It began in 1997 in Munich, as Pétur Óskarsson and Bjarnheiður Hallsdóttir, while studying Tourism Management in Munich, founded the tour operator company “Katla Travel GmbH”. Under the slogan “Island Individuell / Iceland Individually” they organized and sold tailor made group and individual packages. In cooperation with Neckermann Reisen, Katla Travel offered a number of charter flights that made travelling to Iceland more affordable than ever before and allowing a more flexible product design.

Viator – Holiday Home Rental

In 2002, the holiday home rental and Katla’s sister company “Viator” was founded in Reykjavík. So far, cottages had only to a limited extent been available for tourist rental in Iceland, but the demand had increased noticeable. With Viator the door opened up for Icelandic house and cottage owners to the tourist rental market. The idea to rent holiday homes that were unused large part of the year to foreign guests fell on fertile ground.

Katla DMI – Iceland Incoming

In 2003, the operation of Katla Travel for incoming travelers spun off and Katla DMI in Reykjavík was founded. Today, both companies operate completely independently as separate companies. Katla Travel’s main focus are individual guests whereas Katla DMI serves as an incoming agency for tour operators of German-speaking guests – both for self-traveling guests and for groups of all kinds.

The number of employees of the Katla Group has grown in these 17 years, from 2 to 20. The staff is primarily from the field of tourism and / or have a strong connection to Iceland and Germany.

Holiday Homes investments

In recent years, the Katla Group has invested in its own holiday homes to strengthen its offer. The group attaches great importance to the quality of the houses themselves and all equipment, with emphasis on promoting Icelandic design. Today there are 5 holiday homes owned by the group, one in each part of Iceland.

The future

Katla DMI is always looking for innovations and new challenges in order to strengthen its market position. Thus, recently the attention has been focused more on the product ranges meetings, conferences, incentives and events.